The Yale School of Art has received an anonymous gift of $750,000 from a Yale University alumnus to fund the establishment of an Art and Social Justice initiative at the school.
The Art and Social Justice initiative has been created by Marta Kuzma, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Dean of the Yale School of Art, in recognition that graduate art education needs to explore the intersections of art through economic, social, and cultural perspectives. The school-wide initiative will contribute to scholarships, promote research, extend pedagogical offerings, and explore practical approaches and projects that foster critical and collective consciousness around social engagement and civic dialogue.
The initiative also focuses on helping graduate students to negotiate art production amid the given conditions of social and economic inequality and increased polarization.
“This gift represents a level of generosity that enables the Yale School of Art to address one of the most important issues in society today — equity in graduate level education within which personal or social circumstances, race, gender, ethnic origin, or economic background, might in no way serve as an obstacle to higher learning,” Kuzma said. “Additionally, this gift enlarges the platform on which the Yale School of Art addresses the cross-section of art with current debates and issues plaguing society, both nationally and internationally.”
